Parenthood and Productivity of Highly Skilled Labor: Evidence from the Groves of Academe

We examine the effect of pregnancy and parenthood on the research productivity
of academic economists. Combining the survey responses of nearly 10,000
economists with their publication records as documented in their RePEc accounts,
we do not find that motherhood is associated with low research productivity. Nor
do we find a statistically significant unconditional effect of a first child on research
productivity. Conditional difference-in-differences estimates, however, suggest that
the effect of parenthood on research productivity is negative for unmarried women
and positive for untenured men. Moreover, becoming a mother before 30 years of
age appears to have a detrimental effect on research productivity.